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G/O Media

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G/O Media Inc.
Company typePrivate
PredecessorGizmodo Media Group
FoundedApril 8, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-04-08)
HeadquartersNew York City, US
Key people
Jim Spanfeller (CEO)
OwnerGreat Hill Partners
Subsidiaries
Websiteg-omedia.com

G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company[1] that owns and operates the digital media outlets Kotaku, The Root, The Inventory, and Quartz.[2][3]

It was formed in 2019 after the private equity firm Great Hill Partners purchased two digital portfolios from Univision: Gizmodo Media Group (Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Splinter, The Root, Kotaku, and Jalopnik) and the Onion portfolio (The Onion, ClickHole, The A.V. Club, and The Takeout).[4][5] Since 2023, the company has sold off many of its outlets,[6][7][8][9] including The Onion[10] and Gizmodo, which were the source of "the G and O of its name".[11]

History

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G/O was formed in April 2019 when Great Hill Partners, a private equity firm, purchased the websites from Univision for $18.9 million.[4][5][12][13] Prior to the sale, the former Gawker Media properties had operated as Gizmodo Media Group after being acquired by Univision following the conclusion of the Bollea v. Gawker lawsuit and subsequent bankruptcy in 2016.[14][15][16] Former Forbes executive Jim Spanfeller became the CEO of G/O Media.[17] In the first twelve months following its purchase of the websites, G/O shut down Splinter News in November 2019[18] and sold ClickHole in February 2020 to Cards Against Humanity.[19]

In mid-October 2021, G/O Media removed all images from stories published before the acquisition by Great Hill Partners in 2019 from the 11 websites it owns, including Gizmodo, Jalopnik, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, The Onion, and Jezebel. No reason was given, but it was speculated to be related to copyright infringement lawsuits the company was involved in.[20]

From 2023 onwards, the company began to dispose of sites that it owned, with Lifehacker being sold in March 2023 to Ziff Davis,[6] while Jezebel was shuttered[21] and then sold in November 2023 to Paste, along with Splinter News.[7] In January 2024, Adweek reported that G/O Media was looking to sell off the remaining sites under its ownership, following failed efforts to find buyers for the whole organisation. The company claimed the reporting was "largely incorrect" but didn't specify how.[22] On March 11, 2024, G/O Media sold Deadspin to the European startup Lineup Publishing, who immediately laid off all of Deadspin's employees.[8] Later that month, G/O Media sold The A.V. Club to Paste and The Takeout to Static Media, and it was reported that the company was actively looking for buyers of The Onion[9] which was sold in April 2024 to a company called Global Tetrahedron.[10]

Gizmodo, with the website's entire staff, was purchased by the European digital media company Keleops Media on June 4, 2024.[11][23][24] The Daily Beast noted that "with the sale of Gizmodo, G/O Media no longer owns the brands that made up the G and O of its name. The company's dwindling portfolio now just consists of business news site Quartz, African-American culture outlet The Root, gaming site Kotaku, gearhead publication Jalopnik, and commerce site The Inventory".[11] Jalopnik was acquired by Static Media in October 2024.[25]

Staff conflicts with leadership

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G/O Media's leadership, introduced after the purchase from Univision, has been subject to frequent criticism by employees.[17] Complaints include closer advertiser relationships, a lack of diversity, and suppression of reporting about the company itself.[17] In October 2019, Deadspin's editor-in-chief, Barry Petchesky, was fired for refusing to adhere to a directive that the site "stick to sports".[26] Soon after, the entirety of Deadspin's staff resigned in protest, leaving the site inactive.[27] In November 2021, Gawker reported of approximately 75% of staff at Jezebel resigning over the course of 2021. The resignations were reportedly related to a "hostile work environment" created by G/O's management and the new deputy editorial director Lea Goldman.[28] In January 2022, another article detailed similar staff decline at The Root, with 15 out of 16 full-time employees having left throughout 2021, since Vanessa De Luca started as editor-in-chief,[29] while at The A.V. Club, seven senior staff members left the site after management required them to move from Chicago to Los Angeles. According to the Chicago Tribune, the departing staffers cited a lack of salary increase to account for higher cost of living due to the transfer.[30]

The company also saw multiple disputes with the employee unions. In January 2020, the GMG Union, which represents the staff of six G/O Media sites, announced a vote of no confidence in CEO Jim Spanfeller, citing, among other issues, a lack of willingness to negotiate for "functional editorial independence protections".[31] On February 4, 2021, the Writers Guild of America, East, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that G/O Media told employees it had fired Alex Cranz for labor activism.[32] On March 1, 2022, GMG Union members went on strike after failing to reach an agreement on a new contract.[33] The strike was resolved on March 6 with a new contract that included some of the members' terms.[34] On June 29, 2023, G/O Media implemented a "modest test" of AI-generated content on its websites, in a move similar to BuzzFeed and CNET. This sparked backlash from GMG Union members, who cited AI's track record of false statements and plagiarism from its training data, with basic errors in the generated content also attracting attention.[35][36] In January 2024, a strike involving members of the Onion Union, which represents workers at other G/O Media sites, was narrowly averted following an agreement.[37]

Acquisitions

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Sold properties

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References

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  1. ^ Hayes, Dade (November 1, 2019). "Deadspin Loses Veteran Writer Drew Magary as Website's News Flow Runs Dry – Update". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  2. ^ Abdel-Baqui, Omar; Bruell, Alexandra (April 28, 2022). "Gizmodo Owner G/O Media Buys Business News Site Quartz". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  3. ^ Owen, Laura Hazard (April 29, 2022). ""An audible gasp": Quartz, once a high-flying startup, has sold to G/O Media". Nieman Journalism Lab. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Hayes, Dade (April 8, 2019). "Univision Finalizes Sale of Former Gawker Portfolio and the Onion to Private Equity Firm Great Hill Partners". Deadline. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Mullen, Benjamin (April 8, 2019). "Great Hill Partners Agrees to Acquire Gizmodo Media Group". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Fischer, Sara (March 13, 2023). "Scoop: Lifehacker sold by G/O to Ziff Davis". Axios. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c Robertson, Katie (November 29, 2023). "Jezebel to Be Resurrected by Paste Magazine". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Baragona, Justin (March 11, 2024). "G/O Media Sells Off Deadspin to Be Entirely Gutted". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Baragona, Justin (March 26, 2024). "G/O Media Continues Fire Sale, Dumps A.V. Club and Takeout". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Spangler, Todd (April 26, 2024). "The Onion Sold to Founder of Twilio, Who Taps Ex-NBC News Reporter Ben Collins to Lead Satire Site as CEO". Variety. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c d Baragona, Justin (June 4, 2024). "G/O Media Sells Off Gizmodo". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  12. ^ "Univision Communications Inc and subsidiaries 2020 First Quarter Reporting Package" (PDF). Univision Communications Inc. – Financial Reports – Quarterly Reports. March 30, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 14, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  13. ^ "Univision Communications Inc and subsidiaries 2020 Second Quarter Reporting Package" (PDF). Univision Communications Inc. – Financial Reports – Quarterly Reports. June 30, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 4, 2023. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  14. ^ DiNapoli, Jessica (August 17, 2016). "Univision to buy Gawker out of bankruptcy for $135 million". Reuters. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  15. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (April 8, 2019). "Univision sells Gizmodo Media Group". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  16. ^ Adams, Robert N. (April 8, 2019). "Gizmodo sold to Great Hill Partners, forming G/O Media". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  17. ^ a b c Tani, Maxwell (July 18, 2019). "Gizmodo Media Staff Enraged at New CEO's 'Insane' Direction". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  18. ^ Tani, Maxwell (October 10, 2019). "Splinter Shutting Down". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Notopoulos, Katie (February 3, 2020). "Cards Against Humanity Bought Clickhole". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  20. ^ Hitt, Tarpley (February 4, 2021). "Pictures Disappear En Masse from G/O Media Posts". Gawker. Bustle Digital Group. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  21. ^ "Trailblazing feminist blog Jezebel is shutting down has to shut down from a lack of buyers. The writers claim 'strategic and commercial ineptitude'". Fortune. November 9, 2023. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  22. ^ Stenberg, Mark (January 24, 2024). "G/O Media Hangs 'For Sale' Sign Across Its Portfolio". Adweek. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  23. ^ Robertson, Katie (June 4, 2024). "Gizmodo Sold to European Media Company". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2024.
  24. ^ Stenberg, Mark (June 4, 2024). "Gizmodo Acquired by European Media Firm Keleops". Adweek. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  25. ^ a b Flynn, Kerry (October 21, 2024). "G/O Media agrees to sell car culture site Jalopnik". Axios. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  26. ^ Tracy, Marc (October 29, 2019). "Deadspin Editor Fired Amid Pushback Over 'Stick to Sports' Memo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  27. ^ Robertson, Katie (November 1, 2019). "Deadspin's Last Staff Member Quits. But Deadspin Is Not Dead, the Boss Says". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  28. ^ "Inside the Turmoil at Jezebel". Gawker. November 18, 2021. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  29. ^ "What Happened at The Root?". Gawker. January 27, 2022. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  30. ^ Channick, Robert (January 19, 2022). "Top editorial staff leaving A.V. Club entertainment site after refusing to relocate from Chicago to new offices in LA". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 29, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  31. ^ "GMG Union votes no confidence in G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller". Awful Announcing. January 14, 2020. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  32. ^ Eidelson, Josh (February 4, 2021). "G/O Media Told Staff Activism Got Editor Fired, Union Says". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  33. ^ Geier, Thom (March 1, 2022). "Jezebel, Gizmodo, The Root and Other G/O Media Writers Go on Strike". The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  34. ^ Fuster, Jeremy (March 6, 2022). "G/O Media, WGA East Agree to New Contract After 5-Day Strike". The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  35. ^ Tangermann, Victor (June 30, 2023). "Gizmodo and Kotaku Staff Furious After Owner Announces Move to AI Content". Futurism. Archived from the original on July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  36. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 5, 2023). "Gizmodo's io9 Published an AI-Generated Star Wars Article That Was Filled with Errors". Variety. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  37. ^ Kilkenny, Katie (February 1, 2024). "The Onion Union Reaches Tentative Deal with Management, Averting Strike". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  38. ^ "G/O Media acquires Quartz". Flashes & Flames. April 28, 2022. Archived from the original on May 5, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  39. ^ Calhoun, Jordan (March 30, 2023). "A New Beginning for Lifehacker". Lifehacker. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
  40. ^ a b Baragona, Justin (March 26, 2024). "G/O Media Continues Fire Sale, Dumps A.V. Club and Takeout". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 27, 2024.

Further reading

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